Success for Europolitan Vodafone's operator-neutral Vasalopp service

2/27/2002 11:20 AM EST

Over 10,000 SMS enquiries


This year's Vasalopp ski race will be the first to allow audiences to
follow the progress of each individual skier directly via SMS to their
mobile phones. Even though only half the Vasalopp week has passed, the
service has already been a tremendous success. Together with Mobile
Relations, Europolitan Vodafone has produced the mobile service for the
Vasalopp ski race, which has registered more than 10,000 SMS inquiries
from customers who wish to follow the progress of friends and relatives
as they tackle the course.

"The response has been overwhelming and will be even greater as Sunday's
Vasalopp race draws closer. The SMS service is part of our operator
neutral service initiative in which we offer content suppliers, in this
case the Vasalopp race organisers, solutions that allow them to reach
all Swedish operators' mobile telephony customers via us," says Mårten
Ulvsbäck, Business Manager in charge of applications at Europolitan
Vodafone.

The Vasalopp race's SMS service uses a computer chip given to each
competitor together with an ID number worn around the wrist. Sensors are
then placed along the course of the Vasalopp, and when the skiers pass
them, they register the time and send this information as an SMS to
those who have ordered the service, regardless of which operator they
use. Europolitan Vodafone's undertaking in the Vasalopp ski race is
being carried out in collaboration with IBM, which is responsible for
reporting the results of the race and the Vasalopp web site.

Until now, it was difficult for content suppliers to reach all potential
customers via SMS without signing contracts with each individual
operator. But with Europolitan Vodafone's new Event SMS service,
separate contracts are a thing of the past. Europolitan Vodafone and
Mobile Relations handle the agreements with other operators on behalf of
the content suppliers and also offer administrative and technical
solutions tailored to their needs. The only thing the content suppliers
need is a marketing channel to spread the word about their SMS service.

"Many companies and organisations are sitting on a goldmine of
interesting information that can be made available via mobile
telephones," says Göran Brandt, Managing Director of Mobile Relations.
"SMS is a fantastic means for increasing the perceived value of an event
or sending information to your customers. There is a clear trend whereby
a growing number of companies and organisations are discovering the
potential of SMS in terms of generating contacts, and our new service
has effectively removed any obstacles to the use of this channel."

Read more about the service at www.vasaloppet.se.

For more information, please contact:
Mårten Ulvsbäck, Business Manager, Applications, Europolitan Vodafone
Tel.: +46 708 33 13 63, e-mail:  
Göran Brandt, Managing Director, Mobile Relations
Tel.: +46 703 27 99 10, e-mail:  
Johan Holmgren, Director of Public Relations, Europolitan Vodafone
Tel.: +46 708 33 14 00, e-mail:  

Europolitan Vodafone is a mobile operator with a license to build 3G
mobile telecoms networks. Our strength lies in our focus on developing
international services, service and quality. Europolitan Vodafone's
parent company, Europolitan Holdings is listed on the Attract 40 list of
the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The company's majority owner is Vodafone
of the UK, with 71 per cent of Europolitan Holdings. Private
shareholders, investment companies and pension funds own the remaining
29 per cent. The Vodafone Group is represented on 5 continents and has
more than 200 million mobile telecoms users. During April 2002,
Europolitan Vodafone will be changing its name to Vodafone to
demonstrate that the company is part of the world's largest mobile
telecoms groups. Visit our web sites at www.europolitan.se and
www.vodafone.com/

Mobile Relations is 51 per cent owned by Europolitan Vodafone AB and 49
per cent owned by Nocom AB (publ). Mobile Relations offers operator-
neutral and customised mobile IT solutions via GSM, GPRS and SMS at both
national and international levels. Mobile Relations' services enable
companies to give their customers and employees simple and secure access
to both extranets and intranets. Visit the web site at
www.mobilerelations.se.